Have You Ever Seen Hogwarts at Four in the Morning?

In the Slytherin boys' dormitory.

Lynn looked calmly at Hubert, then slowly drew his hazel wand from his trunk with one hand.

"I'll give you one more chance. Answer me—what the hell do you think you are, McLean?"

He repeated the question.

Hubert grew flustered under Lynn's stare. He avoided Lynn's gaze, his eyes darting about as he blustered with false bravado.

"What are you taking out your wand for? Want to have a wizard's duel with me? Don't make me laugh, Belloc! You're just a Muggle-born orphan! You're nothing, and you know nothing! Do you know what people like us call people like you? Mudblo—"

"Tongue-Tying Curse."

Lynn coldly uttered the incantation. A bright red beam of magic shot from the tip of his wand and struck its target with perfect accuracy the next second.

The curse took effect on Hubert instantly. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, leaving him unable to speak. All he could do was make a series of panicked, incoherent "urgh, urgh" noises from his throat.

But Lynn did not stop. He strode up to Hubert, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him against the wall.

Lynn was strong. Ever since coming to this world, he had exercised every day without fail. He was no match for an adult, of course, but among children his own age, he was exceptionally fit.

Held firmly in Lynn's grasp, Hubert could not speak, and even breathing became difficult.

Lynn's expression remained calm, without the slightest hint of ferocity, yet it filled Hubert with fear from the bottom of his heart. His face turned red, whether from anger or lack of air he did not know. His limbs thrashed wildly, but he could not break free from Lynn's grip.

"I only came here because I wanted to study properly. I had no intention of causing trouble for anyone. But if someone insists on causing trouble for me... the consequences will not be limited to what happened today."

Lynn was half a head taller than Hubert. He leaned close to Hubert's ear and spoke softly.

"Do you understand what I mean?"

Hubert seemed determined to stay defiant. He glared furiously at Lynn, his clenched teeth looking as though they wanted to tear him apart.

"Looks like you're not very bright." Lynn shrugged. "I've made myself so clear, and you still don't understand. Then I suppose there's nothing I can do."

One hand clamped tightly around Hubert's throat while the other seized his hair, controlling his head before smashing it hard against the wall!

A powerful wave of dizziness nearly made Hubert throw up. Then the sharp pain made tears and snot stream down his face against his will.

"Mm. I gave you a little help to clear your head for the time being. So, can you understand what I'm saying now?"

Lynn's voice sounded like a demon's whisper in Hubert's ears. He was only eleven years old. How could he possess any truly unyielding will?

Unable to speak, he could only nod desperately to show that he understood. Only then did Lynn release his collar.

Hubert immediately collapsed to the floor like a drowning man who had just been dragged ashore, his mouth hanging open as he gulped down air.

Lynn leisurely dusted off his robe. Then, as if changing faces, he actually put on a warm smile and crouched down to help Hubert straighten his rumpled school robe.

"Sorry, but I haven't learned the countercurse for the Tongue-Tying Curse yet, so I can't let you speak for now. We'll just have to wait for the magic to wear off on its own. You don't blame me, do you?"

Hubert hurriedly shook his head to show that he did not. He did not even dare meet Lynn's eyes now.

"You really are such a generous person! Then I trust you'll let this little misunderstanding between us go. From now on, we'll still be good roommates and classmates, right?"

Lynn smiled with complete sincerity, as though none of what had just happened had happened at all.

Hubert nodded mechanically. All he wanted now was for this painful torment to end so he could lie down in bed and sleep obediently.

Lynn was very satisfied with his attitude. Then he turned to look at the other two roommates. They had been huddled on their beds, trembling as they watched the "friendly interaction" between Lynn and Hubert. Now, they only wanted to erase their own presence and avoid drawing the victor's attention.

"Good night."

He smiled kindly at them, immediately frightening the two boys into pulling their blankets over their heads.

Lynn no longer felt like reading. He changed into his pajamas, washed up, and lay down in bed to rest.

His way of handling the matter had been crude, but it was also the most effective.

That was how reality worked. If you feared trouble, then you had to make those who wanted to trouble you understand that provoking you came with consequences too severe for them to bear.

The meek feared the strong, the strong feared the ruthless, and the ruthless feared those with nothing to lose.

Using violence to solve violence was undoubtedly the most effective method.

Of course, the prerequisite was having equal strength.

Lynn currently knew very few spells—few enough to count on one hand. The only one that could be considered somewhat useful in a fight was the Tongue-Tying Curse, a dark curse he had learned from several extracurricular books he had bought at Flourish and Blotts.

According to the books, the creator of that curse was his current Head of House: Severus Snape.

So it was not that Lynn wanted to roll up his sleeves and get physical. He simply had no other spells to use. What else was he supposed to do, cast a Scouring Charm at Hubert?

That would have been a joke.

Nothing happened that night.

Early the next morning, Lynn's long-established body clock woke him promptly at four in the morning.

He quietly changed into his robe, washed up, took his wand and the textbooks he would need that morning, and left the dormitory.

The common room was empty.

But a creature that could not exactly be called human stood silently beside the fireplace.

Those hollow eyes, like whirlpools capable of sucking in a person's soul, made Lynn's skin crawl.

He had no choice but to force himself to greet him first.

"Good morning, Mr. Baron."

The Bloody Baron, Slytherin's resident ghost, had also been present at the opening feast yesterday, sitting at the Slytherin table with them.

"Oh, a new Slytherin student." The Bloody Baron's voice was soft, yet every word could be heard clearly.

"Why not stay in your warm bed a little longer? The sun has not even risen yet."

Lynn answered honestly.

"I usually get up this early at home. Once I'm awake, I can't fall back asleep, so I wanted to take a walk and familiarize myself with Hogwarts."

The Bloody Baron nodded. "Early to bed and early to rise is a good habit. If you get lost in the castle, you can ask the portraits on the walls. They should be happy to point you in the right direction."

"Thank you for the reminder."

After bidding the Bloody Baron farewell, Lynn left the common room.

Outside, it was still pitch-black. However, half the eastern sky had begun to brighten faintly. Before long, he would probably see his first sunrise at Hogwarts.

Lynn wrapped his robe more tightly around himself, then followed the directions Betty, the prefect, had given them yesterday and set out to find the Charms classroom first.

The staircases inside Hogwarts Castle were notoriously unruly. If he did not familiarize himself with the routes beforehand, those troublesome stairs might easily leave him completely disoriented.

After an hour, Lynn had roughly familiarized himself with several commonly used classrooms that Betty had introduced yesterday. Along the way, he also made a successful circuit past the library entrance. He might come here often in the future, so scouting the route ahead of time was necessary.

At around half past five, Lynn emerged from the castle. He planned to go for his daily morning run around the Black Lake.

Only when he reached the broad lawn beside the Black Lake did he realize that he was not the only young wizard at Hogwarts who woke up early.